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Lords of the Sky
Lords of the Sky is the fifth episode of the Wing Commander Academy TV series. Plot Act 1 The jumps out to the Dioscuri system, a G5 star orbited by 7 planets. Geoffrey Tolwyn briefs Maverick, Maniac and Grunt about their mission to investigate Dioscuri II, and determine whether the Kilrathi had interfered with the native humanoids; they are primitive and the pilots must avoid contact with them. When the briefing is concluded, Maverick inquires why Gwen Bowman is not part of this flight, and Tolwyn replies that she has requested to be temporarily excused from duty. The three Scimitars take off and Bpwman is seen in a location on board the Claw, watching them sad that she is not with them. Above the planet, Maniac suggests to split up, which Maverick questions, as his wingman Bowman is not with him. Maniac however once more dares Maverick that he is scared to go on alone and Maverick complies fed up. Maverick performs measures on the planet's atmosphere when around 15 Dralthis arrive from the surface. He requests assistance from Maniac and Grunt. He then uses decoys to evade missiles launched by the Dralthis. More Dralthis show up from the jungle in front of him, and Maverick shoots down a couple. After successfully managing to pull over and evade the ground, he is hit by a missile and loses one of the engines. He shoots one more Dralthi and when he sees more missiles coming onto him, he ejects. He activates the tracking transmitter and renews his request to his copilots. Maniac and Grunt are on their way, but they also encounter a swarm of Dralthis and they have to punch their way through. Maniac tells Grunt to take out as many as he can and breaks away luring 2 ships with him. He falls straight into a chasm, but pulls over on the last moment; one of his pursuers crashes on the ground, and the other crashes on the canyon walls attempting to follow Maniac. Meanwhile, Grunt turns away from the planet, pursued by a swarm. Maniac lands near Maverick's eject pod but finds it empty. He is attacked by a humanoid, which he shoots with his blaster, only to find more coming and subduing him. They bring him tied up to a place where they also keep Maverick, who explains that he did not have time to warn Maniac. At the evening the primitive bring the two pilots to a stony temple-like building. There Maverick notices a massive statue of Thrakhath. Act II Grunt is in space reporting to the Claw that he lost the ships, but also contact with his copilots. Tolwyn dispatches 4 Scimitars to the planet and orders Grunt to not attempt a solo rescue mission. Grunt affirms but turns back, following to the rule of the marines on Repleetah: "Nobody gets left behind". The Dioscurans are investigating Maniac's fighter, when Grunt arrives from above. Armed with a marine rifle, he attepts to take them by surprise. They start running at him, but Grunt makes short work with his rifle. In the temple, Maverick and Maniac are alone moaning. Maverick has taken with him the ejector pod transponder but can't reach in his pocket as he is tied up. They notice a shy, little Dioscuran whom Maverick tries to befriend, but he runs away. A group then enter the temple, led by an elder who can communicate with them. He exclaims that the "Lords of the Sky" supplied his people with the "flying chariots" to fight away the "Lords of Darkness". Maverick and Maniac try to reason with him, but the shaman does not believe a word, and orders them to be sacrificed to the Lords of the Sky. A retinue of Dioscurans carries the two pilots to an altar located on a high terrace, observed by Grunt who is still on the ground, and starts climbing. Sometime later, the Dioscurans place their victims and begin the ceremony. Maverick and Maniac exchange apologies not knowing that Grunt has reached a ledge above them, in a sniper position aiming at the elder. However, before the shaman does anything, the area is bathed in white light, from which 5 Kilrathi emerge. Act III The Kilrathi leader tells the shaman that they are pleased and orders them to go. Maverick tells the leader that pretending to be gods insults Sivar, but he replies that they please him whenever their enemies are tricked. As they liberate the pilots, the leader explains that they supply this planet with discarded surplus technology and eventually will turn it against the Terran Confederation. They aren't afraid of them, as it is a taboo to fly around this location, and these Dralthis fly with a code the Kilrathi transmit. The pilots are ordered to carry the food the Dioscurans left as offerings. Maniac attempts to protest, but he is stopped by Maverick, who shows him that he holds the transponder. As the sun rises, they walk down a path around the mountain. Maniac briefly scolds Maverick but trips and falls, dropping the box with the offerings. Then Grunt starts shooting, hitting two Kilrathi warriors, and Maverick kicks one over the edge. They stand up and run, covered by Grunt; one Kilrathi attempts to shoot, but is stopped by his leader, who wants the humans alive. The Kilrathi close in and Grunt shoots at the ground near their pursuers, and causes the ledge to fall with two Kilrathi with it. The leader then orders his guards to go back to their base. Grunt suggests returning to their fighters, but Maverick suggests that they should knock out the transmitter which sends the enabling codes to the Dioscurans, or else the rescue team will fall into an ambush. Maniac collects two Kilrathi rifles fell from their pursuers. In the Kilathi base, they are watching for any sign of a ship leaving to bring it down. However they detect the three approaching Scimitars of the rescue team. They send the codes to the Dioscuran pilots to handle them. Archer leads Payback and Hyena. She fails to contact Grunt. Then they are engaged by the Dioscurans. She orders to engage the swarm using proximity bursts only, to avoid non-necessary casualties. Meanwhile the 3 armed pilots are outside the Kilrathi base and shoot with their riles. The Kilrathi exit to reinforce the perimeter. Grunt feels that they can't handle them. Maverick activates the transponder and throws it at their linse. Arches notices the signal; she orders her wingmen to occupy the fighters while she goes to the suface. However the Kilrathi engage the base defense mechanism and launch a rocket against her. Grunt aims and hits it mid-air. Archer is now free to attack, she persuades herself that she has to overcome her sensibilities and shoots at the installation dome, destroying it. The explosion and smoke are seen by the Dioscurans, the shaman and the shy young. The Dralthis, not guided by the Kilrathi code, have to crash-land. A Confed ambulance has landed. Kilrathi prisoners are taken inside, as well as Grunt on a stretcher and his friends wish him to be well soon. He acknowledges that the duo performed like marines. The Scimitars hover above a Dioscuran settlement and they announce that they should forget about the fake Lords of the Sky and return to their old ways. Their planet will be now protected by the Confederation. Maniac concludes that they are the real Lords of the Sky. Trivia *In this episode the Kilrathi are designed to have 5 digits. *According to the briefing display, Dioscuri II has a diameter of 8579Km, mean temperature of 16°, is of Class M, and has 2 satellites. *When Tolwyn mentions the rescue team, 4 Scimitars are seen leaving the Claw, however in the final stage, only 3 play in the story. *When Maniac lands his fighter on the planet, it can be clearly seen that the Scimitar folds the external part of its foil downwards. This feature (which is absent from the games) is also seen in other episodes. *Grunt uses a different rifle than the one on the previous episode. *This story occurs more or less on a single day between Chapter 25 and the Epilogue of Pilgrim Truth. 05